Grand Reopening

Finally, things are moving...apart from the asbestos they found in the ceiling which has halted work this week that is!

I have a work schedule from the contractors and our reopening date has been set for 2nd May.

I am very excited, and also anxious...there is so much to do! I just hope that all the plans I have will translate well from the scribbles on paper to the real thing!

The first change is to our opening hours, when we reopen we will be open from 9.30 til 4.30,  hopefully this will mean that those of you working school hours will be able to browse after work!!

Secondly, we will be launching a loyalty card scheme too. 

Our craft club times will stay the same ( spaces are available) we will still hold workshops and free demo sessions too, more news on those in another post.

In the meantime I am concentrating on our opening weekend.

We will have lots of lovely new things, fabrics, the Simplicity range of dressmaking patterns, gift items and handmade items.

There will also be a discount voucher for our newsletter subscribers, goody bags for the first 25 customers on each day of our opening weekend and a free raffle with great prizes.

If you don't already subscribe to our newsletter, you can fill out the small form to the right of this page.

Claire x

Killing Time

At the moment thats what I feel like I am doing!

When the shop flooded and I was looking for the positives in the big fat mess it caused, the list of things I would be doing during my unwanted time off was endless!

I was going to sew everyday, I would get up to date with my accounts, I would make sure I had a full and up to date stock take, I would visit friends and family, I would help in school, I would have a tidy house.....

Not one of these has been scrubbed off the list.

Its been hard to motivate to be honest, its hard to keep a neat house when half the bloody shop is in your lounge/dining room/bedroom/landing, its hard to muster up enthusiasm for work when the people in control of getting you opened again are dragging their heels.

But this week was a turning point. Finally, buttons have been pressed and papers signed so works will start very soon.

So I celebrated by starting a(nother) new project.

The granny stripe blanket by Lucy of Attic 24 .

Unless you are new to blogland you will have heard of Attic 24. I have read her blog for..working out in my head as I write..5 or 6 years! But have never made anything from one of her amazing tutorials.

Until now.

The tutorial uses more colours than I am, and is for a bigger blanket than I am making. 

Reasons behind this decision: I had 6 balls of this gorgeous cotton yarn at home. And I knew where in storage to get my paws on another couple of balls of each too. Secondly, I hate doing chain stitch to start a project. I crochet a lot in the round, chain 6, thank you, lovely, that will do me ;)

So the Attic 24 pattern starts with a chain of 240 for a double bed, I want this for the caravan so I chained 120. To be honest I do wish I had the stomach for the 240 this would have looked amazing in double bed size!

You then double crochet into the chain ( I did trebles as I forgot to do doubles...by the time I realised I wasnt frogging it for nobody!) then the next row you make a treble cluster in every 3rd stitch. But obviously if you are going to make one you will go over and follow Lucys instruction not mine ;)

After you have done the first 3, quite frankly, tedious stages, this is the most satisfying crochet I have ever done !Its tedious for me because of the counting..counting chain stitches (yawn) 120 double crochets (yawn) and treble clusters counting stitches (made my brain hurt).

And this is me at day 3. I haven't sat watching trashy tv every day crocheting (except Thursday) and I am pleased with my progress, It looks like I will get 4 stripes out of each ball so I will keep granny striping until I have used the 3 balls of each colour I got from storage.

Granny Stripe Week 1

And you know what...I am going to finish this...it is making me so happy, the DMC Natura Cotton is divine once made up, I toyed with adding more colours into it but glad I didnt as I love how it looks too.

If you haven't learnt to crochet yet then Patch still have places on the beginners crochet full day workshop in May.

Once you have the basics the (crochet) world is your oyster!

The Great British Sewing Bee

Tommorrow night sees the start of The Great British Sewing Bee on BBC2.

Series 2 with a new bunch of contestants.

You can swot up before 8pm tomorrow, by visiting The Sewing Directory, where Fiona has put together a who's who for you!

Although I still wish they would include quilting in the format (I do think technically it should be called The Great British Dressmaking Bee!), I am really looking forward to the show. I am sad that the shop isn't open and I am going to miss out on my lovely customers coming in to discuss the previous nights show....

And if you fancy taking part yourself the production company are currently taking applications for series 3.

But hold that inspiration and enthusiasm because it won't be long until we are back!!

I am just back from a trade show where I made enquiries and placed orders for some new stock. 

Including this dressmaking fabric.

This is 100% cotton lawn and will retail (I think, to be confirmed) at £8 per metre.

I love them! 

The 'new' shop will be stocking dressmaking patterns again. Back when we first opened we had a small stock of Vogue and mccalls patterns! They went well but not holding the full stock held us back a bit...but I am still asked ALL the time for dressmaking patterns! This time I have ordered the full Simplicity range after the success of the Lisette patterns in the shop.

(watch out later this week for a special offer on Colette patterns...)

The full Simplicty range of patterns (which is fab and includes some great craft patterns too)  will be available in the shop only, that is I won't be listing them all individually in the webshop. But obviously we can send patterns out to you if you order over the phone or by email.

In other news, the drying out company have finished their work and we are now waiting for the builders to go in and start the rebuilding. I am still quietly confident that we will be open by the end of March.  

Dont forget our fabric sale this week - 

Claire xx

Scottie Dog

                             

About 4 years ago I bookmarked this pattern over on the Denyse Schmidt website. Just before the school holidays began I finally got around to making it.

I used 2.5" squares to make both the dog shapes and the joining strip, I have a box of 2.5" squares that I started to cut from scraps as I finished a project. **

 

** That was during one of my 'enough is enough' periods of organisation but it was shortlived and I currently have 2 dumpbins full of scraps taunting me.
 

I loved deciding to make the Scottie Dog and not have to cut anything out.
 

And I love the scrap vomit effect. No endless rearranging of fabrics to get the position right - just sew and go! 

This was the first new cushion for our new to us caravan that we in this house arguments - wish I'd thought of it sooner!!!

Working together with Janome

This autumn our workshop programme is being helped by Janome.

We have 7 computerised machines being used in our studio by workshop attendees and our quilt club ladies.

We (mostly Leanne) made pretty covers for all of them.

 

New machines meant having yet another rejig of the studio - and we managed to keep a table and corner free for hand stitching or knitting projects.

Our autumn workshop programme can be found over on the website, and I am putting together next years list as we speak! 

Any new ideas gratefully received - we love to find out what new skills you wNt to learn.

Definitely on the cards (following many requests!) is a granny square crochet class. 

Watch your mailboxes next month for the  full workshop list...

Vacancy.....

Running Patch is the best job I have ever had. There aren't enough words to describe how happy I feel knowing I am going to 'work'.

I love my shop. Love my fabrics. Love my customers. Love my studio space. Love to sew whenever I get the chance.

But... 

There is always a but isn't there???

It's hard work. Really hard work. Juggling everything with my 4 children, 2 of them still very young, a husband who works away half the week, a stupid cat, a social life (ha) and sleep sometimes gets overwhelming! 

I have help in the shop, Leanne and Sheona are amazing and between us we try hard to keep on top of everything but I need more help.

That's where hopefully 'you' come in...

Patch is looking for bloggers who would be willing to work for fabric and shout outs on this poor,neglected - but soon to be managed properly- blog!!

The job spec goes as follows - every couple of months we send you 2 bundles of fabric - one for you and one to turn into a sample, with a tutorial ( or you can use an online tutorial or book pattern) for the shop/blog. 

We would like you to blog about it which I can then post on the Patch blog linking back to you. 

We will cover all postage costs.

Does this sound like something you would like to do? 

I hope so, if you are interested please email me patchfabrics@hotmail.co.uk with your name and your blog name.

Hope to hear from you soon! 

1930's Playtime

    

These gorgeous precuts landed at Patch last week.

1930's Playtime by Chloes Closet for Moda does what it says on the tin.... It's a collection of vintage repro prints in lovely pastel and primary colours. 

We have charm squares, layer cakes and mini charms, as well as jelly rolls too (coming on Katy's Jelly Roll workshop?? This line would be a great fabric choice).

I wanted to make something that shows off how gorgeous this collection is.
 

Dresden Plates are perfect. 

This tutorial from mama said sew is the best I have come across. And there is a printable template to make life easy! 

I cut the blades from a charm pack - 2 from each square so you will get 4 plates from each pack.

All you then need is 30cm of co-ordinations fabric for the circles in the middle. I only ordered precuts (huge mistake on my part) as I was shown the collection on paper and that sometimes makes it harder to see what will work...but anyhow no point crying over unordered fabric ;)
 

I used a tiny tone on tone dot for the centres.
 

These plates have been appliquéd onto more plain fabric and will be turned into cushions for a display in the shop.

 

I had so much fun making these - chain piecing the blades really speeds things up. I'm all about the time saving!!!
 

And who doesn't love a project that looks like its taken way more work than it actually has!! 

 

The quilting is very simple - so as not to take away from the fabrics you know...nothing to do with my ability/attention span!!! To finish it off I pieced the back from leftover charms and made a speedy zip fastening cushion.

Dressmaking

There has been a surge of dressmaking projects recently at Patch. 

Although we are not specifically a dressmaking fabric shop ( no stretch Lycra or poly cotton here *shudders*!!!)- the great thing with our quilt weight fabric is that, as they are 100% cotton, they are perfect for garment making too.

The last couple of months have seen some amazing creations being made by our ladies and gentlemen, some nights at quilt club we think we should change the name!! 

Graham, spent 4 mornings with us making this amazing wool waistcoat, lined with a metallic pindot. He was a pleasure to teach, great company, and a mine of country music information - I gave him a line of a song I had heard and liked on the radio 6 years ago and not only did he know what it was, he put it on a disc and brought it in for me, best one to one student ever!!! 

This gorgeous Cath Kidston inspired top was made by Hannah, our work experience student who was with us at the end of June. She was a natural and has a great textile-y future ahead of her.

I made these skirts after taking one of our pattern making classes. With Nickys expert guidance we measured, drew and cut and all had perfectly fitting skirts.

Nicky is one of our guest tutors, who will be back with us after the summer. ( she is also mumma to the gorgeous Charlotte from Lawson and Lottie) 

 

Our dressmaking for beginners workshops are proving very popular, this workshop teaches you how to read and cut out a commercial dressmaking pattern and construct a garment. 

Today the first group of ladies arrived at Patch armed with fabric and patterns and  enthusiasm, which never waned all day, even when energy levels did!

 The morning was spent preparing. And learning that pattern size measurements aren't always the same as the dress size we wear!

The next beginners dressmaking workshop is in early August, it is fully booked, but we will be holding more of these classes in the autumn.

We welcome anyone to join us one2one or in a small group, just ask for more details or to arrange a date.

. 

Fat Quarterly Retreat 2013

Next week Leanne and I will be travelling down to London for the 2nd Fat Quarterly Retreat.

Looking forward to a weekend of meeting up with old and new friends and maybe a bit of sewing too!

Those of you who are going will probably know that Saturday night is market night and Leanne and I will both be taking our wares in a suitcase Del Boy stylee.

I shall be taking some bundles and precuts and will have a stack of Klona solids swatch cards that will be free instead of £2 at market night. 

Leanne has been printing like a crazy thing and has lots of her gorgeous designs available - including her new prints. I know I am famously Leanne's number 1 fan but seriously, however gorgeous they are on screen, in real life they are stunning.  

There is a discount code especially for attendees at FQ retreat. Enter FQRLONDON  for free delivery and I will bring your order down with me.

http://patchfabrics.co.uk/

Look forward to seeing you there :) 

Free Tutorial: Kite Bunting

The summer newsletter went out last week to all subscribers with a link to our free tutorial for this kite bunting.

It is a great twist on regular triangular flags, and would be just as great in a child's bedroom as it is in the garden (or our shop window!).

It is so easy to make and a great scrap busting project too.

We used Jeni B's brill Color me Retro collection available here.

Find the free tutorial over on the website.

Indie

Back in June I blogged about my visit to Colchester for the UK Art Gallery Fabrics showcase.
I fell in love with Pat Bravo's fabrics and the companies ethos.

The quality of these fabrics is completely different to most of the other companies (it's the high thread count if you want to get technical I prefer the they just feel lovely description!) that makes them perfect for not only quilt and craft projects but garment making and home decorating too.

Indie - the latest range designed by Pat herself - is in Patch (and on the website) now.

For the first of what will be a monthly giveaway on the Patch blog, I am giving away a fat quarter bundle of all 10 of the indie prints we are stocking at Patch to one UK blog follower. (Overseas next time I promise!!)

 

To be included just become a follower of the blog and leave a comment telling me - and the rest of the blogging community - your biggest quilt (or crafting) disaster (happy accident if you like but let's face it sometimes things just have to go in the scrap bin!!)
I shall pick a winner on Monday 8th October.
Don't be shy!! I'm looking forward to hearing your tales of disaster!!

Teapot Coasters for the RNLI

The Cragg Sisters tearoom in Aldeburgh sent us the information for their design a teapot coaster competition, which has a closing date of 1st March.
Anything goes, knit it, crochet it, quilt it - the only specifications are it must measure 20cm x 20cm diameter.
All of the entered coasters will be sold in aid of the RNLI after the competition ends.
The winning entry will win afternoon tea for 2 at the tearoom.
For more information pop in to the tea room or email emma@craggsisters.co.uk.  

Quilted Tumbler Workshop

Yesterday Patch was lucky enough to have a guest tutor for a quilting workshop.
Katy travelled half way across the country to show us all how to make a template, piece, quilt and bind a tumbler cushion.

6 ladies (including me!) got through the most difficult part (choosing fabrics) and had a fantastic and informative day. I loved seeing everybodys fabric choices, I always get fabric choice envy and wonder why I hadn't thought of putting those particular choices together!

 We coped with a machine malfunction....wayward tumblers that changed position while we weren't looking (that would be mine!) and all produced stunning cushions that just needed hand binding while we sat with a well earned glass of something in front of the tv that night.

 

 I have finished binding yesterdays cushion and have cut out more tumbler blocks to make cushion number 2 in the week. Have discovered I love (well maybe not love but like a lot) hand binding, previously I have reluctantly finished projects or looked for shortcuts....since Katy showed us a trick with a hair clip it seems ten times easier and am feeling hopeful that at least 3 of my started projects will get finished soon!

Katy will be coming back to Patch in January to teach a Jelly Roll workshop. More details and dates to follow.

 (photos taken by Katy and Leanne)

Workshops at Patch

We have been lucky at Patch to secure the very talented Alex Waylett, to teach creative machine embroidery skills in a one day workshop. The course (which includes lunch) would make a terrific Mothers Day gift for your mum or yourself!!

Creative Machine Embroidery for beginners

‘Learn how to use your domestic sewing machine for freehand machine embroidery. Draw with your thread to create modern designs on silk that you would be proud to frame.’

 WEDNESDAY 18^th MAY

10am – 4PM

Venue: Patch Fabrics, Lowestoft

Cost: £50

to include materials, coffee and lunch.

No previous machine embroidery experience is necessary, however it is expected that you are a confident sewing machine user.

Limited Places. 

 

 

  Full information and course requirements can be found on the Patch Website

We are open!!

We opened our doors yesterday morning at 9:30 and I drew breath just before 4!! Well more like 5 actually as I had to do my online orders before I went home!!
I couldn't have asked for a better response to my shop - so many positive comments, and I lost count of how many times people told me that this was just what Lowestoft had been waiting for.
Thank You so much if you came to support us in person , and for all the virtual support I received both here and on facebook.

We were in the paper on Friday...the write up was excellent, wasn't keen on them using a pic of me - but seen worse!

There was a lot of enthusiasm for the workshops and classes I am planning, so I will pull my finger out and develop a programme as soon as I can.

I am off to enjoy my time off before we reopen on Tuesday. Its our 2nd wedding anniversary today, we can't go out - we feel like all our babysitting credits have been used and don't want to ask anyone!! And I am shattered!!

You can find Patch and me at:    

9 Bevan Street

Lowestoft

Suffolk

NR32 2AA

Telephone 01502 588778

We are open Tuesday to Saturday 9.30 to 3.30

We still have a large range of our fabrics on the website - and will be adding the oilcloths and the new dena designs and riley blake fabrics just delivered in the next week.